


Secrets We Keep

by W1F1N1GHTM4R3



Series: Shifted Colors [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: (like beforan culling don't worry it's not alternian culling), Blood, Culling, Gen, Meenah's story isn't gonna be nice it's sort of a parody of make her pay, So yeah, Violence, backstories, but for now its not that bad, it's kind of vague but that's because violence isn't my strong point, just gonna say: the rating will go up, lots of backstories guys that's all this story is going to be, that major death is temporary sshhhh, the girls still don't quite get the idea of quadrants and are still a pale friendship mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-06 06:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12205266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/W1F1N1GHTM4R3/pseuds/W1F1N1GHTM4R3
Summary: Everyone keeps things from each other.Some do it for their own safety.Some do it to keep from causing fear.Maybe it's time for some stories to be shared.





	1. Latula

You are LATULA VANTAS, currently at the Serkets’ hive.

It’s been a few perigees since you first met your friends, and you trust them enough to think you can finally come clean to them. You think you’ll tell them your blood color.

You are... scared, to say the least.

It could go wrong.

You don’t want to be culled again.

So you take a deep breath, and begin. “Hey, guys? There’s something I want to tell you.”

Meenah, Porrim, and Aranea all look at you.

“I... I need you to promise me you won’t let anyone know about what I’m about to say, first.”

“I think we can do that,” Porrim replies calmly.

You begin your story.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_You are LATULA VANTAS, about a sweep and a half ago. There are highbloods outside. Terezi is talking with them, but you are very scared. You trust your sister. The highbloods are still terrifying._

_You thought you were safe. Your blood has stayed as well-sealed in your body as you can keep it (you’ve never had a major injury, thank gog) and the same goes for Terezi. You are going to be culled, and you don’t know why._

_They couldn’t know you’re both mutantblooded, could they?_

_Your sister comes thundering back inside and warns you to pack anything you can and get ready to leave. She says you won’t be coming back. They’re not going to kill-cull you. But you are being sent to live with a highblood._

_Out your window, you see them taking your lusus, binding her shimmering white wings, stealing your Dragonmom._

_You pack everything as fast as you can._

_You know you can’t fight back._

_\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_It has been a half-sweep since you’ve been culled. You hate it. Your culler really didn’t want to care for you and Terezi, but they do it anyway._

_You guess it could be worse._

_You’re almost treated like a pet though, like having a culled lowblood is like keeping a meowbeast or a barkfiend. You have feelings! You don’t want this life!_

_But you could’ve been culled the other way, and be dead now. You don’t know if you’d rather be dead, or live like this._

_Terezi says you two aren’t leaving, not yet at least. Your hive is probably gone, and you don’t have the resources to buy or build a new one yet._

_So you stay._

_\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_So many things change over the next sweep._

_Terezi gets new glasses, ones that actually work for her. She needed them rather seriously. Turns out, near-blindness is a valid reason for her culling. You got pulled along because she didn’t want to leave you behind._

_You get new glasses too, the same ones you’ve kept and continue wearing. You really don’t need them that much, but you like them all the same._

_Terezi starts meeting people online. She meets the older heiress, her future moirail. All eleven of her main friends (counting the heiress) come from those meetings or connecting through each other. You still haven’t gotten to use Trollian yet._

_There are times you will spend hours doing schoolfeeds._

_You’ve been brought to SO MANY PARTIES. You don’t like them._

_And finally, Terezi asks if you could leave soon. She’s almost six sweeps, she says, she can take care of herself and you on her own just fine._

_Your culler sets up a request for a hive to be built for you two. Then, they let you go._

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And you know the rest from there,” you give a small, defeated smile.

That was tough, but you think they deserved to know your history, more or less.

“Hey...” Meenah starts quietly. “Could I see your blood? You said it’s mutant but not the actual color. I’m just curious... I won’t make you show it.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I’d rather not show it, but it’s really bright red. Like, brighter than any rustbloods’.”

“Cool! I don’t know why people would want to kill people like you, it shouldn’t be any different than just another caste.”

“The Signless-Sufferer, the Survivor, ever heard of them? They’re why. Two mutantbloods that fought the caste system and basically got erased from history because of it. The Survivor is my blood ancestor too, just to add to it.”

The others look at you in shock. Yep, you knew bringing up one of your ancestors and his bloodkin would be a bad idea. Oh well.


	2. Meenah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well here it is
> 
> Meenah is a bad luck magnet and she totally doesn't mean to be

You are MEENAH SERKET, and after hearing Latula’s story, you think you want to tell her about your “accident”. It’s not a goddamn accident, no matter what stories people try to call it.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_It can’t be more than a few perigees before you met Latula, honestly. Damara Peixes, always thinking she’s sooooooo much fucking better than everyone else. You’d love to slap her in her dumb, pink, fishy face._

_And then you do._

_And she tries to stab you with her trident._

_She’s clumsier with it than you expected. She misses entirely. So you start laughing._

_You laugh real hard at her._

_She drops her trident and pulls out two slim, razor sharp needles._

_Damn._

_You should’ve known she’d have highblood strengths, because when you try to dodge her this time, she turns around and lashes out with a needle, piercing straight through your tail._

_The silvery needle comes out of your tail stained blue with your blood._

_She does it again and again while you’re too shocked to really fight back._

_The shock wears off quickly, but before you get to react your arrow-headed tail goes numb._

_You guess you’re glad Aranea came too, because she steps in to try and stop Damara._

_Damara stabs Aranea. And you watch your best friend collapse onto the ground, jade blood beginning to spill from the punctures._

_You dive for Damara, knock her down, and pin her under you. For once your height is giving you an advantage, hah!_

_Turns out, you’re no good at getting a solid grip on her._

_She manages to get an arm out and although she can’t really get good reach or strength behind it, tries to stab you more. They don’t do serious damage._

_You proceed to knock her out._

_Aranea lets out a small, shuddery sigh, and gets up. She’s still bleeding, still looks like she should be dead (did she actually just die? You don’t know), but she’s up and moving despite that. She’s also glowing._

_You leave together._

_You go to Aradia’s hive, only because you know your sister will fuss too much over you. You love Kanaya, you really do, but she’s very, very protective of you._

_Your tail isn’t savable. Aranea’s a rainbow drinker, an extremely young one. Apparently most jadebloods don’t turn until near-adulthood or later. Maryams keep turning early, she jokes while patching Aranea’s wounds._

_You’re kind of scared of things now. You don’t trust people like you used to. You’d rather stay alone and avoid the slightest sense of danger._

_Well. You’re okay, at least. More or less._


	3. Porrim

You are PORRIM MEGIDO, and you feel bad you don’t have any stories this impressive. Sure, psionic strain is marking your arms and legs (slowly, with rippling rust-red lines. You think it looks cool but you know it means you need to use your powers less to stop wearing down on your body), but you don’t think it would make a good story.

So you begin a story you’ve heard instead. Everyone begins to share stories, small ones. You share stories you’ve heard, ones you’ve read, ones you’ve experienced.

You love your friends, you really do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Just a little short chapter to end it off.
> 
> I've started some pale Vrisrezi stuff so that's next!

**Author's Note:**

> *points to my [tumblr](https://w1f1n1ghtm4r3.tumblr.com/)*


End file.
